A Little Lost
by theresaherondale
Summary: For Tessa and Nate, life in London is far from what they had imagined. Essentially homeless and starving, Nate is constantly on the look for work. However when Nate still has not returned after a week Tessa decides to leave the comfort of their temporary shelter to look for him, only to find two boys who are a personification of light and dark. Can Tessa survive a world of shadows?
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One

Theresa Gray tried to ignore the painful pangs of her empty stomach as she frantically searched the streets for any sign of her brother. Nathaniel could be gone for days at a time, looking for food or work or anything that would help them in the dire situation they were in, but never had he been gone for as long as a week without checking in on her and bringing her something to eat. Tessa had began to worry after the third day with no word from Nathaniel but was adamant about staying where she was, in a small but seemingly abandoned shed that must have once belonged to the groundskeeper of a now overcrowded cemetery, as she was conscious that should she leave while Nathaniel returned then he would have no clue where to go and look for her. He would worry needlessly before taking off again to look for her, resulting in them both being lost. However after a week all her resolve was as long gone as the small amount of food she had been rationing.

It was getting dark again and the people of London scarcely noticed her as they hurried home to escape the chill the night was sure to bring. Tessa's hands were numb from the cold already and the thin fabric of her dress did nothing to stop the oncoming rain from soaking her. She wandered aimlessly through the cobblestone streets, the empty parks and down by the Thames until there was no possibility of finding her way back. By the time she stopped to sit down on a wooden bench by the river Tessa's feet were aching and could barely see through the fog beginning to set in around her. She pulled out the necklace from under her dress and clutched it tightly as she lowered her head to her hands.

"What do I do?" She muttered to herself, hoping that by saying the words out loud she may be able to come up with an answer. Why did she think this was a good idea? Did she honestly think that by just by looking her brother might suddenly appear with a straightforward excuse for his disappearance? Tessa tried to laugh at herself but what came out was something between a sob and a sigh. A cold wind swept passed her then, pressing the coldness of her wet dress deep into her bones and Tessa fought off a shiver before deciding to try and find somewhere out of the rain.

Tessa had barely stood when she heard hurried footsteps getting closer to her. Straining to see through the fog, Tessa moved closer to the sound, hoping to see who was in such a state that they would be running through London at this time of night when suddenly, out of the thick mist, the owner of the footsteps crashed into her. The flowing material of a dress was the first thing that told her it was a woman, the second was the high pitched sobbing that rocked through the seemingly distraught young woman.

"Oh my goodness!" Tessa gasped, "I'm terribly sorry. Is everything all right?" The woman looked up and Tessa realised that she was wrong, she was not a woman at all but a young girl, no older than 12 she would say. The fine cut and colours of her dress told Tessa that she must be from a wealthy family, what she would call a society girl back home, something she used to call herself. She knew that a girl of this class should not be out at this time of night, especially unaccompanied. The girl looked over her shoulder into the curtain of grey and tried to scramble to her feet, snagging her feet on her dress a couple of times before managing

"Quick," a deep voice came from the fog, "I think it went this way!" The girls eyes widened and it only took a second before Tessa understood the situation. Ignoring her earlier exhaustion, she grabbed the girls wrist and dragged her off in a run. They were both struggling to breath after 10 minutes of flat-out sprinting down the length of the Thames and it was no surprise when the girl fell to her knees gasping.

"Come on!" Tessa encouraged, desperate to get the child to safety and away from the men pursuing them, "I understand you're tired, but we must keep going!" But the girl didn't move, not even when Tessa grabbed her and tried to pull with all her might. The sounds of the men grew closer and Tessa did the only thing she could think of. She stood in front of the girl and decided that if they wanted her, they would have to go through Tessa first. Not the best plan, Tessa knew, considering what these men where planning to do this late at night with a young girl, but she thought she stood a better chance at fighting them off than this girl did. She squeezed her hands into fists and tried her best to look brave and not at all as stupid as she felt as two figures emerged from the fog.

The pair were not what Tessa imagined. Both about the same height as each other but taller the Tessa, they stood there as a personification of dark and light. One had dark hair that curled around his forehead and even through he fog she could see how vibrant the deep blue of his eyes were. He was wearing a very elegant suit, not something Tessa had expected of a man who was about to violate a young girl, it was dark and well fitted and not the slightest bit disarrayed that would suggest he had just been running for goodness knew how long. In fact, Tessa notice, the other man didn't look that put out either. He had extremely light hair, such a bright blonde it could be considered silver under the dim street lights. He was also in a suit, it was lighter than the former's but just as well fitted. Tessa took a deep breath and stared them down, hoping they would get this over with.

The two had a look of complete and utter confusion as they looked at each other and then back to her.

"What do you think you're doing?" The Dark One asked, taking a step forward. Despite herself, Tessa automatically took a step back. "You should leave. Now."

"Oh? And just let you have your way with her?" Tessa hissed, indicating to the fallen girl behind her.

The Light One looked over Tessa's shoulders, at the girl, and then back to Tessa, his expression shocked, "Oh! Look, Miss, this isn't at all what it seems!" He tried to explain, seeming quite exasperated.

"Well just what is it then? Do you enjoy chasing young girls down the street in the mid of night? Some kind of sport?" Tessa asked, disgust dripping in her tone.

The Dark One glowered. "You stupid girl. You need to go before-"

Suddenly there was something behind Tessa. The men moved into what looked like fighting stances and before Tessa could turn something grabbed her and held something sharp under her throat. She gasped, she knew the assailant must be the girl as they were small and she could feel the fabric of the dress. A sickly sweet, high-pitched voice came from behind.

"Oh, what a sweetheart. Risking her life for mine. Unfortunately, by trying to save my life you just lost yours." A sharp giggle rang through the night like an alarm.

Tessa couldn't grasp what was happening. The Light One had said that it wasn't what she thought it was, and well, let's just say she was beginning to believe him. The vise like grip from what she was beginning to understand was not a young girl at all was allowing her no freedom to move, not that she would when there was something under her chin threatening to slice her open. She looked at the men in desperation. They must have noticed but they looked at each other and nodded in silent agreement before turning and walking away into the haze.

While Tessa was beginning to panic the thing behind her let out a wail of fury. "No!" It hissed, "Stop or I'll cut her pretty little neck in half."

Doesn't look like they care, Tessa thought as she felt the sting of a blade as the girl put pressure on it. Tessa wondered what Nathaniel would do if he ever returned to their little shed to find her gone, without the slightest hint of her return. What would happen to her body? Would this thing take it back to wherever it came from or leave her dumped here? Thinking about it, they were close enough to the river that she would probably be dumped unceremoniously into the murky water. 'Accidents' like that happened all the time and it wasn't as if anyone but Nathaniel would even know she were missing.

All of this floated through her mind in a split second before a shriek was released behind her, loud enough that she was sure half of London heard it. The blade fell and Tessa turned just in time to see the young girl transform into something she couldn't even believe existed. It was skinny and so pale it was almost white. It's face consisted of only eyes and mouth, if you could call them that. It's mouth was a gaping hole that ran from one side of his head to the other, with huge fang like teeth protruding from it. The eyes were also huge but they were completely white, no iris, no pupil, just blank. She only managed to catch a glimpse before the whole form shattered into nothing.

Everything was quiet for a while, the only thing Tessa could hear was the gasping breaths she didn't realise she was taking. She couldn't move or look away from the place where the girl, who evidently wasn't a girl at all, had vanished. She felt something warm trickle down her chest before she realised that her neck was bleeding. Then something was rushing towards her. It took her a moment to realise it was The Light One.

"Oh goddess, are you all right Miss?" It was all Tessa could do to nod, before grimacing at the pain the gesture caused. The Light One looked at her neck and grimaced with her. "Will!" He shouted, "Stop cleaning your blade and come and help me!"

The other man appeared, The Dark One, Will. He strode towards them like nothing had happened.

"That, that girl- I, I- She- It-" Tessa babbled, she didn't know what she was trying to say but she needed to say something.

"It wasn't a girl." Will said, cutting off her needless mumbling. "It was a demon, a shape shifting one it seems." He mused. He took out a handkerchief and closed in on Tessa, looking her right in the eyes as he pressed it gently against the wound. "My name is William Herondale. And what, may I ask, is a young lady such as yourself doing out here at this time of night?"

His face was so close to hers that it gave her something to focus on other than the shock. He was stunning, and his arrogant behaviour showed that he knew it, Tessa thought.

"I, I was looking for someone." She confessed. Shaking her head to clear it, gasping when the pain from her neck reminded her once again of her injury. "My brother, he left a week ago. He didn't come back. I didn't know where to look or where to go but I, and he, and the girl, and, and-" suddenly Tessa was gasping for breath, desperately seeking more and more air even as she got lightheaded and dizzy.

"Looks like she's hyperventilating," said Jem. He'd stepped nearer to Will. "I'm sorry, I'm afraid I don't know you name, Miss, but right now you need to slow down your breathing. Here, match your breathing to mine. In, out. That's it, perfect." He said with a small smile.

"Theresa Gray," Tessa said, when she was once again in control of her breathing again. "I'm Tessa Gray."

Jem smiled, "Lovely to make your acquaintance Miss. Gray, I'm just sorry it's under such circumstances. My name's James Carstairs, but I go by Jem. This is Will, my brother."

Tessa looked from one to the other, looking for anything that would suggest they were related, but alas, found none. Will's heavily lashed, deep blue eyes were the complete opposite of Jem's light silver ones that hinted at an Asian heritage due to the way they were slightly lifted. None of the other features were similar either. Maybe they meant brother in a different term, maybe they were part of a cult, they were chasing that, that demon, after all.

Tessa just nodded, none of what was happening was sinking in, and she realised that the sooner she got away from the pair the better. "I, um, I really must be going now." She said, backing away.

Will's hand fell from her neck as she moved and instead grabbed her wrist. "Wait, we'll escort you home. It's not safe for a woman to be out at night alone. Where do you live?"

Tessa tried to pull her hand away but Will refused to give. "Oh, that's quite all right. You see, I don't live far, I'll be perfectly fine alone."

"Really, Miss. Gray," Jem said, "We insist."

Fantastic. Tessa thought sarcastically, careful not to say it out loud. Her Aunt used to warn her about what a terrible habit sarcasm could be.

Tessa sighed. "Oh, very well." She said as she tried to think of a way to get her out of this mess. Without another word she spun on her heels and walked back the way she had come, following a few footpaths until she came to the streets that were surrounded with buildings. All the while, Will and Jem followed, not once letting her out of their sight.

"I don't suppose you have a nurse at home? Or at least someone to take a look at your neck." Jem called after her.

"Yes," added Will, "Demons aren't exactly known for their cleanliness towards their weapons."

"Um, of course." Tessa muttered, looking over her shoulder to see that they were both a few feet away. Perfect. Tessa sped up her walking and then sharply turned down a small ally. She ran between the looming buildings, not listening to the pair as they shouted after her.

She found a crevice in the line of buildings that she was just slim enough to fit in. She held her breath and waited for Will and Jem to pass her.

"You go that way, I'll go this way," she heard one say and a moment later she saw Jem's light hair, lit up by the street lamps like a halo around his head, move past her. She closed her eyes and counted to 100 before she stepped out of her hiding place. Who would have thought that after everything that had happened she would be back in the same predicament she was in not even an hour ago.

Deciding to try to find her way back to the one secure place she knew, Tessa looked for any signs that would point her to the direction of the overcrowded cemetery. The fog wasn't so thick here and she could she a good distance away from her, but as she walked the exhaustion hit her like a steam train. After a few minutes she didn't care that she was walking through puddles, that the nights of London oozed danger. She just didn't care anymore. She didn't even care when she walked straight into Will.

"Now, Tessa, was there any need for that abrupt escape attempt?" He grabbed her arms and she was too tired to fight or do anything but lean against him. "Tessa?" He appeared startled at her behaviour and pushed her back a little to look at her. Tessa felt her eyelids droop and a flood of drowsiness hit her, her breathing became shallow. Her knees gave out and she was only just aware of Will lifting her to him before everything went dark.

* * *

**A/N: If you got this far I just want to thank you for reading. Should I continue or scrap it? Let me know :) I'll try not to add so many A/Ns as I know some people don't like them, but as this is the first chapter I thought it would be okay for now.**

***Disclaimers (because disclaimers are cool): I do not own The Infernal Devices or Tessa or Jem and, as much as I hate to admit it, I do not own Will. Excuse me while I sob silent fangirl tears of the perfection that Cassandra Clare has created.***


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

William Herondale looked down at the girl in his arms. Her face was deathly pale and it scared Will in a way he didn't quite understand. Obviously she was attractive, he'd even go as far as to say she was beautiful. When he had first seen her surrounded by a backdrop of grey, she'd looked like an avenging angel. The ferocity on her face as she'd made herself stand up to what she must have thought as dirty rapists, despite the fear she must have hidden, caused something to flutter in Will. An admiration that he'd only ever had for Jem.

Holding her now Will could feel how skinny Tessa was, each bone of her ribs pressed against his chest and just the feel of her light weight was enough to tell him that she hadn't eaten a real meal in god knew how long. She was soaked through, obviously she had been out all day and hadn't bothered to take any shelter from the rain. Her wet brown hair was tangled and stuck to her forehead and her long eyelashes were stuck in clumps and fanned against her cheek. Before Will knew what he was doing, he lowered his head and planted a kiss on Tessa's forehead. Will was shocked with himself, he didn't know what had compelled him into doing that, but he couldn't deny that he felt better now that he had.

Cradling Tessa against him as he went to find Jem, Will wondered what exactly they were going to do with her. He was willing to bet that she didn't really have anywhere to go, that that was the reason she had tried to run off. He would also guess that there had been something on the demon's knife that had caused this reaction. He cursed, they would have to find something to heal her, and quickly, for he didn't know how much time she would have.

"Jem!" He shouted, knowing that his parabatai must be close. "James Carstairs, you unresponsive bastard! Where in the name of the Angel are you?!" He shouted again.

"Will?" As he had expected, Jem appeared from the side of a shop. "What have I told you about calling me-" He stopped talking when he realised what Will was carrying. "By the Angel!" He gasped when he looked at Tessa, "What happened?!"

"She was running but she looked a little out of sorts, she didn't even notice that I was there and ran right into me. I made a comment, something witty, obviously, and then she collapsed right then and there. If she didn't look so pale I'd have said that she finally got a good and proper look at me and her pretty little head couldn't take it." Will said, hoping the arrogance in his voice would mask the worry that was threatening to overtake him. He looked at Jem, hoping that it would go unnoticed, but Jem only looked back with an expression that told him that it hadn't.

"There's nothing else for it," Jem said after a while, "We must take her back to the Institute. Any number of demon poison could be running through her at this very moment."

Will nodded and they both walked back through the streets of London.

"I do hope it's not Demon Pox. It's awfully contagious."

"Not the time, William."

After a while Will was silently cursing himself that they hadn't brought the carriage. He had assumed that once they had defeated the demon he would be free to enjoy one of his favourite past times, drinking and being in company of women of loose morals, but alas, they would have to walk back.

"She's so terribly thin." Will said, only realising after a moment that he had spoken aloud.

"Well," added Jem, "If she really has nowhere to go, like we expect, then she can't have been eating right. Plus, I think I detected an accent when she spoke, American perhaps? That could be a reason why she has no permanent lodgings here."

Will had noticed that, of course. He was drawn to accents. After moving to London from Wales he had quickly tired of what had once been the strange and exciting way Londoners spoke, especially the common ones. He found it amusing that you could tell people's class from the way they pronounced certain words. He liked to think that, even though he had lived in London for so long, his Welsh accent was still there, even if it could only be found if one listened very carefully. He had lost so much of himself already, he did not want to loose everything. In fact, Will often found himself translating English books into Welsh and then speaking the words out loud so that he did not lose the language too.

"She must have Sight." Will said at last. "There's no other way she would have been able to see the demon." If she had been another girl, the demon would have run straight past her and she wouldn't have suspected a thing.

"Like Sophie and Agatha." Jem concluded. The staff at the Institute were not chosen purely by coincidence, they must all be gifted by with the ability to see things. Things that normal mundanes would not. Things from other worlds. Things that nightmares were made from.

Tessa stirred in his arms. Will glanced down and saw her face was flushed with fever. Not good, he thought as he quickened his steps. They weren't far from the London Institute now, and he called to Jem saying they must hurry. Jem ran ahead and opened the gates as Will carried Tessa into the grounds of the Institute. He waited for Jem to close the gate and open the front door before he ran down the halls, trying his best not to knock Tessa about so much.

"Take her to the infirmary. I'll fetch Charlotte. She'll know what to do." Jem called out before he turned to run down a corridor to their left. Will continued down the passages, noticing that Tessa had begun to shake. It was the slightest tremor throughout her body and Will didn't know if it was the fever that had made her shiver or if it was some other reaction to the poison.

When he reached the large room with six beds down each side he rushed to the nearest bed. Before placing Tessa down he pulled her close to him, holding her tightly as if that would stop her from shaking.

Once she was settled on the bed Will stood away, not quite sure what to do with himself. Tessa's dress was soaked through, as was her hair. She must have been out all day, he thought. What was it she'd said she'd been doing? Looking for her brother? Did she not realise just how big and busy the city was? He'd have to ask her more once she woke up.

If she woke up.

The thought was an unwelcome one and Will grimaced. He was used to people dying; it was only natural that one would find a few dead mundanes before sniffing out demon. But this time it was different. Will just couldn't understand why yet.

The doors burst open and in ran Charlotte and Sophie in a bustle of energy.

"Sophie. Pass me the vial. Quickly now!" Charlotte said, her eyes widening when she saw the state Tessa was in.

Will saw a vial get passed from Sophie to Charlotte. It was filled with a grey substance that he knew would be some kind of antidote for the demon's poison. He had never taken it personally as Shadowhunters, like himself, could draw a particular rune on themselves to protect them from this type of danger, but he knew that they kept that type of thing around the Institute in case of attacks against humans with sight.

Some Warlock had concocted it a while back after becoming attached to a human servant; too attached the council would say when they were ordering his execution. A summoning spell had turned bad and the warlock was knocked unconscious, about to be killed by the summoned demon, when the human girl had stormed into the study where the summoning had taken place and tried to defend her master. The demon, finding her more of a distraction than a threat, simply flicked its tail in her direction, knocking her into a large bookcase. As the bookcase fell she screamed. The story goes on to say that the warlock woke after hearing the distress of his beloved, but Will was willing to put that down to the story being told over and over, romanticized more and more each time. He didn't believe in that kind of love. It was just a type of lust, in his opinion. Lust in a pretty package. Will tried to remember the rest of the story, finding it hard since he usually stopped listening after that. Somehow the warlock had destroyed the demon and managed to save the gifted mundane from the bookcase. Unfortunately the demon's tail had injected her with something that made her fatally ill. And so the warlock went to the end of the earth to find a cure, and when he couldn't, he simply made one.

Will almost scoffed out loud. Everything always ended so well in stories, but he highly doubted anything like that had actually happened. All stories like this one could be traced back to one source. Something so wild and untameable that nothing in reality could ever live up to it; the fantasies of unloved women.

Even though Will didn't believe how the antidote had been created, by looking at the girl on the narrow infirmary bed he knew it must be working. Tessa had stopped thrashing around and her breathing was returning to a more natural state compared to the shallow, ragged ones she had taken a little while earlier.

"I suppose it's working then?" Jem said, pulling Will from his thoughts.

"Yes," replied Charlotte, who looked like the weight of the world had been lifted off her shoulders. Will couldn't imagine what a death of an innocent, mundane girl under her roof would have done to her. "You boys hurry along now. Her clothes need changing immediately before she catches another fever. Poor girl. Sophie, do you think you could find something?"

"Of course, ma'am." Sophie said, bobbing her head politely before shuffling out of the room.

"What are we going to do with her?" Will asked suddenly.

Charlotte glared in his direction. "Always so compassionate, William." But she then glanced back at Tessa. Will saw Jem was doing the same and he realised they were all pondering the question.

What _are_ we going to do with her?

She couldn't stay at the Institute. It would be breaking the laws of the Clave. She was a mundane.

But they couldn't very well send her packing on her way. Not now that they suspected that she had nowhere to go.

"Well," started Charlotte cautiously, "if she is, in fact, gifted with Sight, then I wonder if she would accept a job offer."

"Ah yes. That way she would be able to stay without breaking any of the Clave's laws. And I'm sure Sophie would love another pair of hands to help around the place. It would mean she would be able to get someone else to tidy the travesty that Will calls his room." Anyone who looked at Jem in that moment would most likely have thought they'd just found the cure for Demon Pox; he was positively beaming.

"I resent that, Jem. Everything in my room has a place. It's hardly my fault that Sophie refuses to learn where those places are."

"And I suppose it's common knowledge that Herondale's keep their socks on the book shelves. And the books, that should be on the bookshelves, in stacks by the bed?"

"Yes. Of course it is. Are you implying that you know of other Herondale's that do not behave in this manner?"

Jem looked at Will carefully, "No, I can't say I do."

Will grinned a wicked grin, "Then your argument is flawed, my dear friend."

"Really boys." Charlotte sighed. Sophie chose that moment to return to the infirmary holding a long white night-dress. "Didn't I already tell the pair of you to go?"

Will looked back over at Tessa, the relief that she was going to be okay made it easy to joke around.

"I was just leaving anyway." He said. "I have previous engagements with six-fingered Nigel down at Ye Olde Witch's Eye Tavern. Don't wait up."

Will strode out of the door, just out of hearing range as Jem spoke.

"You know I will."

* * *

**A/N: I know I said I wouldn't write these but I feel like I need to apologise for the amount of spelling/grammar errors that are bound to occur. I do proof read but some always slip past and since I'm having to write on my iPad (because my laptop hates me) I'm having trouble writing it more than I would do normally. Anyway I'm sorry :') I hope you understand. **

**Also, as you can see, I decided to continue it because I'm actually curious myself to see how this goes ;) I mean, I do have ideas but you never know, the story could lead me in a complete different direction.**


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

_Tessa didn't know how long she had been running. Her legs numb and past the point of aching but surprisingly her breathing was not laboured in the slightest. She could see her brother off in the distance, his back was turned and he was walking away but she just knew it was him._

_"Nate!" She shouted, but he didn't even turn to look at her._

_"NATHANIEL!" Still nothing._

_Tessa pushed her legs harder, trying to speed up, but the faster she tried to run, the further away Nate got._

_It was only when Nate was barely a speck in the distance that he stopped walking. Tessa blinked and suddenly he was no longer miles away but right in front of her. His back was still turned but Tessa recognised the familiar brown hair. It was unusually tame compared to the unkempt mess it usually was and his clothing was clean and pressed that did not suggest anything about the length of time he had been living on the streets._

_"Nate?" She whispered, reaching out her hand towards him. Tessa suddenly felt very cold and for a split second her hand froze a few inches away from Nate's back as the feeling of wrongness overcame her. She opened her mouth to speak but before she got the chance she was thrown to the left by an unimaginable force._

_Tessa screamed as she flew through the air. Squeezing her eyes shut she waited for the blow from crashing to the floor before realising that she was no longer falling. She pried her eyes open and looking around her, all she could see was empty space. Nothing for her to crash into, nothing for her to stand on, nothing at all. She looked back to where she had been and saw that her brother was no longer alone. Behind him, where Tessa had been standing a few seconds before, was a tall man with dark hair. Something in his hand glinted in the non-existent light and caught Tessa's attention. It was a blade, a huge one, and Tessa knew that it was the most dangerous thing she would ever lay her eyes on._

_The man holding the sword raised it until the point was perpendicular to her brother and Tessa cried out as the blade was about to be thrust into him._

_"Stop! What are you doing?! That's my brother! NATE!" As she shouted his name, Nate finally turned his head and looked at her. Instantly Tessa noticed something was wrong. His eyes were completely blank, just vast emptiness. Tessa gasped and before she could pull herself together the sword was buried into his body. "NO!" She wailed. She tried to rush to him but she found that she as unable to move; her muscles were locked into the position she was currently in._

_Nate's body crumpled to the floor and Tessa watched in horror as her brother's killer yanked the sword out of his back with a jerk. She noticed absently that no blood was exiting the wound, it was as if he was already a corpse before he was dead. Unable to stop herself, Tessa gagged at the sight and the sound caught the attention of the murderer. She watched as the endless blue of his eyes took her in, glancing from head to toe as she continued to stand in the now uncomfortable position she was stuck in. Then he began to walk towards her in an eery state of calm. Tessa took one look at the tool that had been just been used to kill her brother and screamed until there was nothing left in her lungs._

* * *

When Tessa finally awoke the very first thing she realised was that she was comfortable. Her hands clutched the clean and crisp sheets that were wrapped around her and instinctively she pushed her head further into the plump pillows. After months of sleeping on the wooden floor in a freezing shed she'd almost forgotten what a soft mattress felt like under her exhausted body. That's when the realisation hit. If she wasn't in her shed, then_ where was she_.

Slowly she opened one eye, then the other, and turned her head so that she could get a good scope of the room she was in. The room was dim, but Tessa wouldn't go as far to say it was dark; she could still see clearly. It quickly became clear that she was alone in an infirmary of some kind as there were rows of unoccupied beds next to hers and she could see railings down the side of each one where partitions could be closed for privacy.

Tessa sat up and looked down at the white nightdress she was wearing. She didn't remember changing, in fact, she was quite sure she only had one dress in her possession. After leaving America she had sold everything she owned except the clothes on her back (which had been her most comfortable and least profitable dress) and the little clockwork angel necklace that had never once left her neck in all the years she had been wearing it after her parents passed away. It had belonged to her mother, at least that's what her Aunt had told her since Tessa could barely remember a thing about her parents. The thought sent a wave of guilt through Tessa as it always did when she tried to think about her mother and father. She felt like she should remember them, like she should mourn their loss everyday, they were her parents after all. But when she thought about them the only things she felt were an emptiness that she had felt all her life when there was an event that her parents should have been there for. Nate was different though, he remembered them and told her stories about them that Tessa used to cling to when she went to sleep at night. Nate tried his best to make her feel something other than loss for their parents.

Nate always...

Nate...

Nate!

Tessa shot out of bed as her dream came back to her with stunning clarity along with semi-coherent memories of the day before. Was it the day before? Who knew how long she had been sleeping. She remembered looking for Nate, she remembered her helplessness as she sat under the oil lit street lights. She remembered hearing footsteps. But after that her mind melted into a soft haze of nothing. Nothing until her nightmare. Somewhere in the building a bang echoed and Tessa realised she didn't have time to ponder over the meaning of her nightmare. She had to get out of this strange place and find her brother.

Maybe she should have waited for someone to see her, but Tessa really didn't think she had another choice. If she had caught illness from staying out in the cold night for too long and fallen unconscious somewhere on the streets of London it would be unlikely that someone would have been concerned enough to seek medical attention for her, especially if it had been a police officer, they would have just left her for dead just like all the others without homes. She couldn't understand how she had come to find herself in a bed, a real bed with a mattress and feathered pillows and thick blankets. Tessa shook her head and walked away from the bed that was oh so tempting her to get back in and sleep away the aches and pains that plagued her body still.

Her feet softly padded along the cold tile floor as she made her way towards the door that led out of the infirmary. As she turned and walked down a long corridor Tessa scanned the walls for anything that would help her escape. She soon decided that she was most definitely not in a public hospital, the place was far too quite. If hospitals here were anything like they were in New York then there was no way she would have been able to walk this far without running into a nurse or doctor, never mind hearing the agonised screams of other patients. After a few minutes of mindful wondering she caught sight of a small window near the top of the wall, it was too high for her to reach but it gave her the idea that the infirmary must be a level below the ground floor. Tessa looked up longingly at the first means of escape she had seen yet and sighed. From what she could see of the sky through the glass, it looked as if it was early morning; there was a slight glow to the darkness of the sky. The window pane must have been slightly fractured as a sudden but slight draft drifted through the air, causing Tessa to shiver involuntarily and reminding her that she was only dressed in a thin, white nightdress. She hadn't bothered to look around where she had been sleeping for a nightgown of some sort and now she realised what a tremendous pain this was. Now, adding to the unknown danger of attempting to escape from this place, Tessa now needed to find something else to wear. A long coat would do, she thought as she looked down to where the dress brushed the ground by her bare feet, better find some shoes while I'm at it, she added to her mental list. She needed something that she could wear outside while still being inconspicuous.

Tessa hunted for some stairs that would lead her to the ground floor. It was a while before she found them, but eventually she did. They were steep and wooden and Tessa internally groaned at the sound that she was betting they would make as she walked up them. Holding on to the rails on either side of the narrow staircase Tessa used her arms to take as much weight as she could off her feet. She tested each step before stepping up it, if she could feel the wood below her feet beginning to groan then she moved her foot slightly on the step to find an area that did not cause such noise. About halfway up and Tessa hadn't made a single sound and she was beginning to get a little careless. Instead of testing each step, Tessa impatiently stepped up one by one, hoping for the best. Of course, on the fourth step from the top, the wood gave out an almighty squeal that startled Tessa so much that she wasted no time running to the top of the stairs.

At the top of the steps Tessa froze. Holding her breath and hoping her heartbeat would hush long enough for her to be able to hear any movement throughout the building while Tessa listened. When she didn't hear any footsteps or voices headed her way after nearly three minutes she decided to keep moving. She found herself in another corridor, the walls to this one were full of portraits and the occasional weapon hanging from hooks in the cement. The floors were now a thick carpet that felt glorious under her bare feet.

A loud dong echoed down the corridor. Tessa frowned but followed the noise. Dong, another one, and she realised it was the sound of a grandfather clock. Dong. Dong. Dong. Five o'clock, Tessa thought as she opened a heavy door and stepped into the room that the noise was coming from. She almost squealed in delight; she was in what looked like the main foyer. A huge bolted door stood before her. The room was lit dimly with small oil lamps hanging from the walls on either side of the door and she looked around for a cloakroom so she could find a coat and some shoes. She saw a magnificent grandfather clock ticking away by the wall and she could have kissed it for leading her towards her escape. Next to the clock was a small door, made from the same wooden panels as the walls making it blend in and Tessa was sure that had she not noticed the brass door knob protruding from the panels, she would most likely have walked right past it. She opened up the door and found so many coats and shawls and hats and shoes of such a high standard that Tessa could have sold the lot and bought a house, with enough left over to feed herself and Nate for a good few months.

The cloakroom was darker than the foyer and so she left the door propped open before fully immersing herself into the silky finery of the coats. Of course, the first coats that drew her attention were feminine but she quickly realised that the bright colours would draw far more attention that they were worth and they were cut to accommodate the extremely large hooped skirts that were now in fashion and therefore would probably not cover her in the most practical way. Snapping herself back in to attention and scolding herself for spending so long admiring the beautiful overcoats Tessa moved on to look for a simpler coat. After rummaging around a bit she found one that was perfect. It was long and black with a high collar and buttons all the way down the front. It obviously belonged to a man but Tessa didn't have time to worry about the indecency of dressing in a man's coat while she was only wearing a thin cotton nightdress for the lighter it got, the more chance that the people who had taken her would awaken and find her missing.

Tessa slipped on the coat and found a pair of average black shoes that were only just too big. She was just about to set off out of the door when she suddenly heard the giant doors opening as someone walked through them. A very male grunt sounded through the room and Tessa could only assume that the man was trying to rid himself of as much rain as he could manage. Hiding in the corner farthest away from the entrance of the cloakroom, Tessa attempted to bury herself behind the rows of coats. When the man entered Tessa squeezed her eyes together in a silent prayer that the man should not turn the light on, if he did it would all be over. Thankfully he made his way into the room without turning and lighting the oil lamp. He shrugged off his coat, still dripping with rain water, and took of his hat. Tessa noticed the edges of the man's dark hair was stuck to the sides of his face and she somehow found herself longing to brush it away. She mentally shook herself, where had that thought come from? But the more she looked the more she was sure that when the man turned around and faced her direction she would be confronted with a pair of deep blue eyes that she swore would see right through her soul. But the man didn't turn and Tessa pretended that she didn't feel a twang of disappointment deep in her gut when he walked away.

Sticking to her usual tactic, Tessa counted to 100 before making a move towards the door. She kept the coat wrapped closely around her body using her arms and found herself taking a deep breath of the coat she was wearing. It smelt divine; if warm was a smell, she would have said it smelt warm. It was a musky, spicy sent that sent shivers down her spine and made goosebumps rise on her arm. Making a beeline for the main doors, Tessa walked as fast as she could without clumsily tripping over her new shoes. Just as she was reaching for the bolts on the door Tessa heard someone clearing their throat behind her.

"Ah hem."

Tessa froze, her hands stopping a few inches from the door.

"I don't suppose you informed anyone that you were going on an early morning stroll?"

Tessa turned around and sure enough there was a pair of piercing blue eyes gazing back at her. He was leaning against the door frame that led to the corridor she had come from but as soon as she faced him the cocky expression transformed into one that was almost concern.

"What are you doing out of bed Tessa? You should still be sleeping off the fever."

"How do you know my name? Did you bring me here?"

The man's eyebrows bunched together in a look of confusion. "You don't remember?"

"Remember what?"

The man closed his eyes and dropped his head for a second before lifting it again, walking briskly towards her and grabbing hold of her wrist. Before Tessa could resist and pull away she was already being dragged purposefully behind him.

The man sighed before saying, "I'm Will. We met last night. To make a long story short you became unwell and we brought you here. But don't worry, as soon as we find Charlotte you'll get to hear the detailed version, if you're lucky I may even act out different parts of the story for you. But don't hold your breath, unfortunately there have been no shirtless scenes in the story thus far." Tessa ignored that last part of the sentence and the wink he sent her.

"You said 'we' brought you here. Was, um, Charlotte there too?"

"Ah, no. It was my brother, Jem, you met. You don't remember him either?"

"Well, what do you think?" Tessa snapped back before realising she'd let her frustration get the better of her. She glanced at Will and saw he was barely managing to contain a smirk.

"I think that nightdress looks wonderful on you." Tessa blushed furiously and pulled the edges of the coat tighter. "But I must say, my coat really brightens your eyes."

"_Your_ coat?" Tessa was caught in the dilemma of ripping the coat off and throwing it at him and just being left in her night-dress or sucking up her what little pride she had left and keeping the coat on. She had never been so under dressed in front of anyone but her aunt and her lady's maids before and she wasn't planning in starting now she decided.

"Yes my coat. But I'll tell you what Tess, you can keep it if you like. Lucky you! Every woman in London wants a piece of me and now you have one. Besides, it looks so much better on you than it ever looked on me." Will said with a wicked grin.

"Only if you'll wear my nightdress." Replied Tessa, regretting it instantly as she realised what her witty comment implied.

Will positively beamed, "You'll have to take it off first, Tess."

Tessa scowled. "It's Tessa," she grumbled.

"Hmm," Will said after a moment. Tessa snuck a glance at him and Will looked as if he was taking it into consideration. Then, "No, I like Tess. What's special about calling you Tessa if everyone does anyway? You're my Tess."

Tessa was fed up. She yanked her arm out of his grasp. "I'm not your anything."

Will just smirked at her. She was contemplating ways she could wipe the smirk off his face when a rather distraught voice came from down the adjoining corridor.

"Master William?! Is that you?! Master Will, what have you done with the poor girl?! She's gone! Charlotte's going to..." The furious voice stopped suddenly as a girl in a maids uniform ran into view. Her hair was tied up under her cap and neatly pinned into place. Tessa noticed with a sudden jolt the scar that travelled the length of her cheek. Tessa sighed inwardly, she had seen much, much worse in her time living on the streets but she felt pity for the girl who would have to live with that mark for the rest of her life. Tessa had always thought that people's scars often told you a lot about the person who wears them. This scar was telling her that the poor girl had lived a nightmare.

"Calm down Sophie, I found our little guest playing dress up in the cloakroom. I was just taking her to talk to Charlotte. And there is no need for such an accusing tone, Tess is perfectly safe with me." If looks could kill, Will surely would have been dead and buried by the glare Sophie was sending him. Tessa decided that she liked Sophie.

"Charlotte's in her study. She asked me to check on her," she inclined her head at Tessa, "and bring her up if she was well enough."

Tessa perked up instantly. The sooner she talked to this Charlotte woman the quicker she could leave and find Nate. "I'm well enough." She said quickly.

Will looked as if he was about to say something but, to Tessa's relief, stayed quiet. Sophie motioned for Tessa to follow her and she did while pretending not to notice that Will was also following. They soon reached a wooden door, which Sophie proceeded to knock on before opening. Tessa walked in and was greeted by a huge solid oak writing table. Tessa looked behind it and blinked in surprise; she didn't know what she had been expecting of Charlotte but the woman sat before her was certainly not it. She was an extremely petite woman with brown hair pulled into a braid and pinned to her head in a circular fashion. She couldn't have been much older than Tessa but the air around her was enough for Tessa to know who was in charge here.

Charlotte smiled warmly, "Good morning Miss. Gray. I hope you are feeling more like yourself."

"I am, thank you."

"I woke up particularly early this morning to make sure you were well, but it seems you beat me to it." Charlotte said, her voice light with amusement.

"I-" she was cut off by a flurry of impatient words.

"Charlotte, she doesn't remember what happened last night. She knows that she became unwell and we brought her here for that reason but she cannot remember _how_ she became unwell."

Wills words caused Tessa to stop and think. She hadn't put much thought into it before, she was too busy trying to escape and then she had been to occupied with Will, but she found that what he was saying was true. Even more strange was the fact that she had not been sick since she caught the flu at the age of nine. Nate used to tease her about being practically immune to everything.

"Oh dear," sighed Charlotte, "Take a seat Tessa, for this conversation is going to be far longer that I had anticipated."


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Will left Tessa to speak to Charlotte in private. As much as he'd liked to see her reaction when she found out about his world he couldn't bring himself to sit for that long while the women conversed.

It was still early and he doubted Jem would be awake yet so Will walked to his room to see if he could find something to entertain himself with. Will grinned at the thought as the face a young woman came to his mind. Yes, he definitely wouldn't mind entertaining himself with her. When he had seen her this morning, hiding behind the coats, he decided to have a little fun and chose not to say anything. But of course he had seen her. Not only did his Shadowhunter training require him to be hyper aware of his surroundings but there was something about her, he found that he was drawn to her presence as soon as he had entered the institute.

Watching her stumble down the hallways in the shoes that were clearly too big was enough to have him rolling on the floor with uncontrollable fits of laughter and let's just say that the thin nightdress had not gone unnoticed as the edges of his coat flapped open. He couldn't stop thinking about ripping the coat off her so that he could have a full view before pushing her against the wall and feeling her mouth on his. Luckily, Will had enough self control to keep his attraction in check, only allowing himself a couple glances at her body. Unlike earlier, when he was carrying her unconscious body in his arms and had the alarming sick-to-his-stomach feeling that he didn't understand, this attraction was one he was comfortable with; he had dealt with it numerous times before and thoroughly enjoyed himself each and every time. Will let a wicked smirk onto his face. If she chose to stay he was going to have the time of his life.

* * *

Tessa blinked.

And blinked again.

She could not do much else while her brain tried to process the information it had just been given. At first she thought it had been some kind of joke and that Will would burst back into the room and laugh at how gullible she was but one look at Charlotte's face and she knew that this was dead serious.

Taking a deep breath Tessa found she was suddenly able to remember things from her past that she had tucked away from everyone, including herself. She remembered the monsters that had lurked in the stables when she was a child, terrifying her horses and causing them to act jittery. She remembered the reason she wouldn't go into the woods that was adjoined to their estate alone. She had tried to tell Aunt Harriet about them but all she received was a beating before having to recite the words "Lies are the words of Satan" a couple hundred times. As she grew older she found that she had stopped seeing the creatures that used to haunt her dreams. She had chalked it up to childhood imagination.

"You never stopped seeing them," explained Charlotte, "you just refused to acknowledge them. There is a difference. Your brain rejected the Sight and would not process it as a result of your reluctance to believe what you were seeing."

Nodding, Tessa forced herself to listen although Charlotte's words were beginning to buzz together.

"Mrs. Branwell, may I be frank?" Charlotte nodded and gestured for her to continue, "This is all very interesting and it does explain quite a few things, however I do wonder why exactly you are telling me this. I didn't remember what had happened last night and you could have just as easily told me that I caught a chill. What has any of this got to do with me?" Tessa blurt out. It was the first time she had spoken since Charlotte had started to explain, mostly due to the fact that she had been quite speechless.

"Well, Miss. Gray, as it happens I have a proposition for you." Charlotte smiled warmly at Tessa.

"A- A proposition?"

"Yes. As you may have noticed from your little expedition this morning," Tessa looked down, her cheeks burning, "this place is rather large and to be quite honest we need a few more staff to properly tend to it. To be direct, I would like to offer you employment, effective immediately."

* * *

It was later when the other maid, Sophie, was helping Tessa into her new uniform that the gravity of what had happened finally hit. Work, a place to stay, isn't that all she had been looking for when she arrived in this dank, crowded city? But now the one person that had always been part of the vision wasn't here. Tessa had agreed to the proposition, but only on the terms that she would receive help and the time off needed to search for Nate.

"Ouch!" Tessa cried suddenly. The pins that Sophie was using to keep her white cap in place were poking into her scalp, her head felt sore after being scraped back into a tight bun at the nape of her neck and the stabbing sensation of the pins were not helping. She felt uncomfortable and couldn't wait to tear out everything holding her hair in place just to feel a bit of relief.

"I'm sorry! Your hair has a mind of its own! It just won't. Stay. Put!" Sophie exclaimed while she tugged and stabbed at Tessa's scalp more. After a few more minutes Sophie sighed and gave up, leaving a few loose tendrils framing Tessa's face as they refused, to Sophie's dismay, to do as they were instructed.

Sophie took a step back and grinned while she admired her handiwork. "You know, I'm so glad you accepted. It's a relief to have someone of a similar age I can talk to."

Tessa smiled back, she genuinely liked this girl who was unafraid to speak her mind. Her feisty, no-nonsense attitude was a comfort as it was something she was used to, for she had been told that she had one also. After being given a tour of the Institute, as the residents called it, Tessa was introduced to Agatha, the chef with the ability to make food that smelt almost as good as it looked. Sophie had seen her eyeing the apple pie on the stone counter and had nudged her with an elbow. Tessa looked down immediately, knowing from the experience of how her Aunt had once treated her own maids that it was not her place to admire such treats. Seeing her expression, Sophie ginned and immediately said, "Oh, don't worry about it! Charlotte is a very considerate boss, apart from the endless errands you'll be expected to run you'll practically be treated like family." She leaned in close before whispering, "that includes getting a piece of desert."

She winked and turned to grab two plates stacked with so much food Tessa looked full just looking at it. She shoved them at Tessa, who only just managed to keep hold of their weight. "These are for Jem and Will, they could eat the whole kitchen if Agatha would let them," Sophie snorted. She then picked up another three plates, one resting on her forearm, two had the same food as Jem and Will's in slightly smaller portions while the last barely held enough to fill half of the plate. Sophie caught her glance and explained in a tone with a slight edge, "Jessamine's. Charlotte told you about her, didn't she? A right bloody pain she is. Decided one day last week that she was too fat and gave me a shopping list of exotic vegetables that I needed to buy for her new diet. Now, all you need to do is put the plates down in front of the boys. It doesn't matter who gets which plate, they're practically identical although if one ever looks larger than the other, make sure you give it to Will or he'll make a fuss and resent you for a few hours while he turns his room into a bigger pig sty than usual just so you have to spend longer cleaning it. He's a terrible sulk mostly and almost as big a pain as Jessie but he's a man so you can't really expect much of a difference." Sophie said as if her conclusion about men were a scientific fact.

Tessa nodded through the run down of what she needed to do, only half listening. Her arms had started to tremble from holding the weight of the plates and she just wanted to hurry so that she could put them down. How Sophie could stand there with three plates and not break into a sweat Tessa could only guess came with experience. When Sophie finally made a move into the dining room Tessa was ready to throw the damn plates on the floor.

The dining room on the Institute was longer than it was wide, the main feature being the table that must have been made centuries ago; it was a masterpiece. Never before had Tessa seen such craftsmanship, the engravings that ran down the length of the table and up it's legs were delicate but defined. The room had such a warm, family atmosphere Tessa had to stop and draw a deep breath before she could continue. Everyone was already sat around the table but as soon as Sophie and Tessa entered the room Will groaned.

"Finally! If you'd taken any longer I may have fainted out of hunger." He exclaimed, throwing an arm over his forehead while he feigned faintness. Tessa saw Sophie shoot him a look of contempt before lowering her head in the act of professionalism.

Before she was able to move to put the blasted plates down, Charlotte cleared her throat. "Jessamine, Henry, I'd like you to meet Miss. Gray. She'll be working with Sophie for the foreseeable future." Tessa nodded at the red headed man that looked at her with a curious expression and the blonde girl, close to Tessa's own age, that glared at her for reasons that were unknown to her.

Will saw the look Jessamine was sending Tessa and chuckled. "Don't worry, Jessie. I doubt Tess here is going to steal your throne for Ice Princess. There's no need for the death glare." Jessamine just gave a little 'humph' before proceeding to examine her nails.

Sophie then moved towards the huge table and Tessa followed suit. Although Will was the closest to her she made her way to Jem first, quite deliberately. Lowering the plate down before Jem she ignored the bewildered look Will sent her made Tessa feel as if she'd just killed ten puppies.

"Thank you." Said Jem. Then he lowered his voice and added, "It is good to see you again. I'm glad you're feeling better."

Blushing,Tessa bobbed. "Thank you." She replied.

Will cleared his throat. "If you two are quite done getting reacquainted I'd like my dinner before I collapse from low blood sugar."

Sighing, Tessa made her way around the table. She tried to ignore Will's close proximity as she placed the heap of food before him. She was just about to step away when he grabbed her wrist. "Ah, Tess dear, would you mind pouring me a glass?" Shockwaves travelled up her arm as he gripped it under the table. She tried to pull her hand free but his grasp clamped around her thin wrist like a vice. She looked up from his hands to his face, where he was looking at her expectantly, not giving anything away to the crowd seated around him. Tessa gulped and reluctantly reached for the jug with one hand, it was heavy but she managed, it was only when Will moved her hand slightly and placed it on his lap while Tessa was pouring the glass that Tessa jumped and spilt the whole jug down both herself and Will, soaking them both.

He let go of his grasp on Tessa and she immediately brought her hand to her chest so quickly she may have looked like she had been electrocuted. Apart from Tessa's stuttered apologies, the whole room was silent, disbelieving eyes on her. She wanted to shout at Will, to scream that it was his own fault, but she had never felt more confused at how to behave. She had known it would take time before she could be as completely submissive as Sophie at the flip of a switch but at that moment she had never felt so embarrassed. Her very first job and he had ruined it.

And then Jem began to laugh. He'd noticed more than he'd let on and the look on Will's face when he had gotten what he deserved was priceless. After Jem, Henry let out a huge 'HA!' while Charlotte tried to hide her laughter behind the back of her hand. Jessamine just rolled her eyes and continued to pick at her food, however a small grin tugged at the edges of her lips. Will glared at Jem before his expression softened and he was also laughing at the turn of events. He stood up and said "If you'll excuse me." before walking towards the door. Tessa was still stood motionless, empty jug still in one hand when Will called over his shoulder. "Miss. Gray!"

Shooting a look at Sophie she put down the jug. Sophie cocked her head to the side and mouthed the words, "Go. I'll clean up here."

Tessa scampered from the room. Once the door was shut behind them she took a deep breath and brought the heels of her hands to her eyes, cringing at what had just happened. Her black dress was dripping and even though she hadn't thought it was possible, she felt more uncomfortable now than when she had first gotten dressed.

"I understand that you've been thrust upon the life of a working maid rather suddenly and so I'll give you two pieces of advice, Tess." Said Will, who was suddenly stood beside her. "One, I always get my food first, it's common knowledge. And two, it is not good practice to thoroughly soak the people on which you are waiting."

And then Tessa's patience shattered. Like a broth that had been left untended for too long, Tessa bubbled over. Everything she had held back saying in the dining room spilled out of her before she had any chance to catch it.

"I don't care if it was not good practise! I hardly asked you to take my wrist! You made a fool out of me Mr. Herondale, I let Mrs. Branwell down before I even had chance to prove myself! And it isn't as if this is where I particularly want to be right now! Oh, goodness, what am I even doing here?! Playing maid while my brother could be dead! How foolish I was to think that staying here would benefit the both of us, that by accepting this opportunity I would be helping him. There is nothing any of you can help me with Mr. Herondale! Not you, not Mrs. Branwell, not anyone! I accepted in a moment of weakness, I saw no other way to help my brother and the thought of finally having somewhere to stay was too tempting. I thought I was thinking about Nate, when really i was just thinking of myself. I was selfish." The last three words where said barely above a whisper. Tessa was looking down at her feet, her anger turned to confusion, hopelessness and self-loathing.

Will didn't know what to do. All he'd wanted when he called Tessa after him was to witness her fiery personality come through, and it had, but not in the way he was hoping. Usually aggression would turn into passion however his plan had quickly come to a halt when he looked at her. This beautiful girl that stood before him, whose expression was one of utter defeat, was in desperate need of comfort and yet Will could do nothing but stand there gormlessly. Comfort was not something he knew anything about. It was Jem that would help Henry when his inventions exploded, it was Jem that would pick up the trays that Sophie dropped occasionally, telling her that it was an accident and she was not at fault, it was Jem that would distract Will from his own problems and prevent him from seeking help from some of his favourite vices. It was always Jem. Will felt like running back into the dining room, grabbing Jem and forcing him to say something helpful to Tessa in his place. But he didn't get the chance for suddenly Tessa was smiling, a smile that didn't reach her stormy eyes.

She let out a single laugh that sounded more like a sigh, "It hardly matters I suppose. It's quickly become apparent that it'd be a better use of my time to look for Nate alone. I'll give my apologies to Sophie and Mrs. Branwell myself, but I think I'd best get changed first." And with that she turned to walk down the hallways.

"Wait!" Said a voice. It was a while before Will realised it was his. Tessa stiffened and slowly turned back to him. Will forced himself to say something. "You- you can't just leave." He said. Tessa was shocked, she hadn't expected Will to object to her leaving. In fact she'd suspected that he'd been attempting to get rid of her. She looked at him in bewilderment.

"Well- What I mean is-" Will stopped and tried again, he'd never been lost for words before. "Think about it logically Tess. You have a place to stay, food to keep you strong and you have Shadowhunters at your disposal. What else could you possibly want?! You feel guilty that you're here while your brother could be anywhere but you're on a far better situation now than you were yesterday. Your chances of finding him are so much greater should you stay."

"Oh really? And why is that?! I had no idea where to start looking for him, why would it be any different if I stayed? Do you have some sort of Shadowhunter magic that's going to tell you where he is?" Tessa's gaze was hard.

Will smiled, he was going to get his way, he was sure of it. He would convince her to stay. "No, but we have something better." He confessed.

Tessa's full attention was on him, finally very interested in what he had to say.

"We have Susan."

* * *

**A/N: Sorry it took so long but Holy Shit Clockwork Princess. My brain has been mush for weeks. I'm barely the person I was before I read it. **


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: I just want to thank you all so much for the follows, favourites and mostly for the reviews. You guys have no idea how much they mean to me and they really keep me motivated when writing new chapters. I appreciate the comments, the constructive criticisms and the love you guys are sending, each review is like a hug. ^_^ I realise it's been a while so here's a reminder from the last chapter, I'll remove it in a few days :) Thanks again lovelies. **

* * *

_"Oh really? And why is that?! I had no idea where to start looking for him, why would it be any different if I stayed? Do you have some sort of Shadowhunter magic that's going to tell you where he is?" Tessa's gaze was hard._

_Will smiled, he was going to get his way, he was sure of it. He would convince her to stay. "No, but we have something better." He confessed. _

_Tessa's full attention was on him, finally very interested in what he had to say._

_"We have Susan."_

* * *

Chapter 5

Tessa hadn't known who she was expecting when Will had mentioned 'Susan'. No one in the Institute had so much as spoken the name in passing and yet Will seemed to mention her as if she was the answer to all Tessa's problems. Will hadn't waited for Tessa to follow him as he turned on his heels and strode down the halls but he must have known that she would. _Cocky bastard,_ Tessa thought. She walked briskly to keep up with Will's long strides and had absolutely no idea where he was leading her, not even when he opened the door at the back of the Institute that lead out towards the stables where the horses were kept. He held the door open for Tessa, much to her surprise, but she then realised that by growing up in a place like this, manners must have been pressed upon Will whether he had liked it or not.

Will continued to walk down the stone path that lead to the stables. Neither one had said a word and Tessa's growing frustration got the better of her.

"Are you trying to tell me Susan is a horse?" She said as they approached the wooden building.

Will shot her a look. "Of course not. Don't be dim, Tess. Who in their right mind would name a horse, Susan?"

Tessa bristled at the patronising words and forced herself to stay quiet. When Will opened the stable door Tessa was struck by the smell of hay and something that was just purely animal. Two theories crossed Tessa's mind, Susan could be a friendly stablehand, although she found that slightly hard to believe since it was usually strong, muscular men who did that job, but then who was she to judge, she was currently living with people who killed demons for a living. The second theory was that Will was somehow keeping an old, frail lady here with the horses who had some type of special power that would help her track down her brother. That one made her extremely uncomfortable with being here with Will.

When Will called "Susan!" the last thing she expected was to have a large dog leap at her. A dog. Susan was a dog.

"You mock me when I suggest Susan was a horse when you've gone and given the name to a dog?" Tessa said, trying in vain to keep the dog from ripping her skirts to shreds as she jumped up to sniff her.

"Horses and dogs are completely different. What exactly is your point?" Will smirked. Tessa begged to differ, Susan was the size of a small horse.

"And here I though you had some little old lady imprisoned among the horses and hay."

"Aw, come now Tess. You must think more of me than that."

Tessa sighed noncommittally, Susan had calmed at her side as long as she continued to stroke her long fur. "I don't see how Susan can help."

"That's because you don't know her, however she seems to want to get to know you." Will looked over her in bemusement. "This is the first time she's ever acted so friendly to someone who wasn't me. Even Jem can't get her to go near him and Jem is about as friendly as one gets."

"Well then, what can she do?"

"The hound you currently have attached to your side is possibly the best tracker in the whole of London, if you don't count the Warlocks and what ever spells they have in their precious books. But Susan is far more fun to work with than a simple Warlock, aren't you girl?" Susan responded by running over to Will and licking his hand.

Deciding she didn't have much to lose, Tessa looked at Will. "Very well then. What do we do first?"

Will look startled, he a hadn't expected her to go along with it quite that quickly. Nevertheless he stood straight and got down to business. "She'll need something of Nate's. Once she gets a good whiff we'll find your brother by the time the sun goes down."

Tessa deflated. "I don't have anything of Nate's"

"Well then we'll just have to go and pick something up from your old place. Tess, go change, that dress is still wet. I'll go and get Thomas and we can set up a carriage. Meet me back here in 10 minutes."

Tessa nodded and hurried away from the stables, trying not to think about the fact that she was returning to her miserable, damp shed.

She close to ran though the hallways until she reached the small room she shared with Sophie and then breathed a sigh of relief when she found Sophie inside, folding freshly cleaned linens.

Sophie saw her and gasped. "Good Heavens,Tessa! What are you still doing in those clothes?! You'll catch your death."

"I was with Will." As soon as she saw Sophie gaping she blushed and regretted her choice of words. "Goodness Sophie! Not like that! We were just talking and he's offered to help me find my brother. But I don't have anything I can wear out."

Sophie grinned. "Ah, don't worry about it. Mrs. Branwell makes sure we all have clothes for outings and the like. You can borrow some of mine if you like, they're not much compared to those of Miss. Jessamine's but I should think some of them will look much better on you than they ever did on me."

Tessa's heart filled with warmth and she fought the urge to run to Sophie and wrap her arms around her. "Thank you," she said sincerely, "I'm sure they're all lovely."

After Tessa was dressed in a lovely pale blue dress that Sophie had picked out due to it being slightly too long for her when she'd worn it. It fit Tessa almost perfectly and she was surprised that, although she was taller, the pair were practically the same size. She was about to leave when Sophie grabbed her arm. Tessa turned around and saw Sophie looking solemn.

"Sophie?"

"Just- Just please be careful. When Will gets this interested in a female it usually doesn't end well. I really want you to be happy here, having a friend might be nice." Sophie smiled in a way that didn't reach her eyes.

Tessa reached out her hand and rested it on Sophie's arm. "I already consider you a friend, Sophie," She said, "and thank you again."

Tessa scurried away, knowing she had not verbally acknowledged Sophie's warning but the truth was that she wasn't sure how to respond. Tessa had always wanted to settle down and raise a family when the time came, and as little as she knew from her short stay at the Institute, she knew that Will was not the settling type. As far as she was concerned, there was nothing to worry about.

When Tessa met with Will back at the stables he was talking to Thomas, who was sat in the raised platform in the front of the carriage. She was surprised to see that Will was wearing a different outfit to the sodden one he was in before. Will turned around when he heard her enter and something Tessa didn't want to acknowledge gleamed in his eyes.

"You look good in blue, Tess." He said as he strode toward her.

"Thank you. It's Sophie's."

"If I had known that dress would look as good on her as it does on you, mine and Sophie's relationship might have been a little more, well, interesting." Will smirked.

"You changed?" Tessa said, making it more of a question while not-so-subtly trying to change the subject.

"Of course! You can't expect a man of my distinction to go trailing around London with wet crotch do you?" Will exclaimed while Tessa spluttered. He continued, "You're not the only one who got a soaking from that jug you know. Luckily, I just so happen to keep a spare change of clothes in the stables for various reasons. Now come along, we just need to properly gear Susan and we can be in our way."

Not wanting to know what reasons Will had for keeping a whole outfit in the stables, Tessa turned her attention to Susan, who was lapping up the attention that Thomas was currently giving her. When Will called her, she bounded of the platform and stopped a few inches short of him. Will got down on his knees and started tying something around her neck.

"What are you doing?" Tessa inquired.

"I'm attaching this vial to her collar. It contains some glamour magic from a friend of mine and will make sure that even though we'll be able to see her the nasty dog catchers will not. The last time we took her out we almost didn't get her back." Will sounded almost uncharacteristically solemn, until he added, "did we girl? No, no we didn't. You just ran right into their grubby hands, didn't you my big beauty?" He rubbed her back while Susan panted and rolled over so he could rub her belly.

Tessa coughed, "If you two would like some privacy I can..." She gestured to the stable door.

"Nonsense." Will said, "Come along, let's get into the carriage, Susan will run along side us."

Nodding, Tessa walked to the wooden door of the carriage. As soon as she reached it she felt Will coming from behind her and opening the door for her. Before she had chance to respond he walked over, placed both hands on her waist and lifted her through the door. She let out a little "oh" of surprise and Will jumped in behind her and closed the door. She was about to say thank you when-

"Usually women tend to scream that a little louder when I touch them."

- and all chance of gratitude vanished.

Will and Tessa sat across from one another but once Will had called to Thomas to start moving Tessa kept her head facing towards the window. She could feel Will stare at her, a cocky grin on his face, but she tried her best not to succumb to her desire to face him and lean forward until there was no space between them at all. A shiver ran down her body at the thought.

"Are you cold?" Will asked, but the gleam in his eyes knew that the shiver was not caused by a chill.

"No." Tessa said, still not looking at him.

Will placed his forearms on his legs and leaned across the carriage toward her and Tessa continued with her internal struggle not to meet him there.

"I didn't think so. You don't look cold." Will said while that wicked grin made an appearance, "In fact, I'd say you look rather flushed. I wonder why." He mused and Tessa fidgeted under his gaze.

"Where are you from?" She burst out, finally able to look directly at him now that she had initiated a conversation that was on safer territory.

Will looked startled and his gaze deepened, "What makes you say that?" He asked.

"You don't sound like the others." Tessa explained. "I don't think I've ever met anyone with an accent like yours. I quite li-" She cut herself off. Blushing at the way her thoughts had run into her words.

"Oh, you like it, do you? I quite like how you were able to pick up on it, not many people notice these days. I'm from Wales. You know where that is, don't you?" He asked raising an eyebrow.

"Of course I do!" Tessa snapped, "I'm not as uneducated as you think!"

Will chuckled under his breath. "Believe me, Tess. Your intelligence was never in question."

"What is it like?" She asked cautiously.

"It's beautiful, Tess." Will's eyes adopted a dreamlike glaze. "Everything is green and blue; none of the murky grey you find here. The air is fresh and the water is pure and the grass is full and soft enough to run through barefoot. People speak in the language that created legends and everything has a sense of magic to it."

Neither of them spoke for a moment while Tessa imagined and Will remembered. Then Tessa broke the silence.

"Will you say something to me? In your language."

Will's whole face lit up as he said. _"Mae hynny'n ffrog yn dynn iawn arnoch chi. Wyf yn ei hoffi."_

The words sounded like music to Tessa and she bit back a smile of her own. "What does that mean?"

"It means I like your accent too." His mouth said, but his eyes said something different. Tessa didn't believe that he had said that at all but decided not to push it since what he really said must have been rather unpleasant if he felt the need to lie about it. "So I told you about my homeland, now you tell me about yours."

"I don't have much to tell. I lived a very sheltered life and barely ever got to leave my Aunt's estate. Anything I needed would be fetched for me and my only friends were fictional. It felt as if I lived in the books I read since I did almost nothing else. My staff, apart from my tutor Elizabeth, hated me, my brother was always busy and my Aunt was constantly away on exotic retreats with her circle. When she died the money quickly dried up and Nate and I were forced out if our social class. He was too embarrassed to stay in New York and told me that London would offer us a life like our old one. So I can't tell you what America is like, William, for I never really experienced it in the way you got to experience Wales." There was a sadness in Tessa's tone and there was a very real look on Will's face when she had finished. A look that Tessa hadn't seen on his face before.

"I'm sorry." Will said quietly with such sincerity that Tessa felt herself soften towards him slightly.

"Thank you," Tessa replied, "as you have probably noticed, London hasn't really gone to plan." She let out a humourless laugh.

Will looked at her so intensely that it felt like hours before he spoke. "I hope I can help to change your London experience for the better, Tess. If I try, will you let me?"

Tessa blinked and after blinking several times she breathed out the word, "Yes."

The carriage slowed to a stop and Susan's bark from the street outside broke the tension that had been building throughout the journey. Tessa looked out of the window at the cemetery they had pulled up next to. "Welcome home, Tessa." She said bitterly.


End file.
